“Humility, Moral Virtue, and the Constitution”

Humility is not the first quality most people associate with the United States of
America. Yet for the nation’s founders, humility was an important virtue for anyone
entrusted with political power. Hubris had marked the downfall of many regimes in
human history. How could the creation of the Constitution, its framers wondered, be
different? “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom,” Ben Franklin said. What did that statement mean for America’s early days, and what
does it mean for us today? –David Bobb, President of the Bill of Rights Institute

In 2004, the U.S. Congress passed bipartisan legislation authorizing September 17th,
1787, the day the delegates to the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention signed the
U.S. Constitution, as an official holiday. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education
authorized that any educational institution receiving federal funds should host educational
activities during the week of the Constitution’s birthday. Past UTC Constitution Day
lectures have featured nationally and internationally known scholars and teachers
Josiah Bunting, James Ceaser, Bradley Birzer, Michael Federici, Wilfred McClay, and
Richard Gamble. The general public, the UTC community, and educators and students
from a variety of schools and colleges in the region are cordially invited to attend.
For other information about the event including reserved seating for groups and individuals
please contact Jeffrey Melnik at edast@utc.edu or call (423) 425-2118. A brief biography of David Bobb is included below.

David Bobb joined the Bill of Rights Institute as President in 2013 and has worked
for twenty years at the intersection of civic engagement and education reform. David
has taught courses in American politics and public policy in the history and political
science departments of both Boston College and Hillsdale College, and was the founding
director of a national civic education program for high school teachers and the Allan
P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Studies in Washington, D.C.
David has designed online educational programs used by more than half a million participants
and is a nationally-recognized proponent of civic education that engages the hearts
and minds of students. The author of Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America’s
Greatest Virtue, David has written for The Wall Street Journal and Fast Company among
many other publications. He earned his Ph.D. in political science from Boston College,
where he received fellowships from the Pew, Earhart, and Bradley Foundations. David
and his wife, Anna, have two sons, Walker and Michael.